36 On the Cyclones of the North Pacific Ocean. 



Cyclone of the J. N. G osier ^ May^ 1855. — The American ship 

 ship J. N. Grosler, irom San Francisco for Hong Kong, experi- 

 enced a heavy typhoon on the 28th of May 1855, in lat. 16° 40' 

 N., Ion. 14:7° 45' E. ; nearly two thousand miles from the Chi- 

 nese coast She carried away sails, spars, &c. ; and was aban-^ 

 doned on the SOth, with nine feet of water in the hold. The 

 officers and crew succeeded in reaching the Marian Islands, in 

 their boats. 



Slrong'^s Island and Ascension. — Mr. John T. Gulick of the 

 Sandwich Islands/ in the year 1852 visited several of the Mi- 

 cronesian Islands, near tlie equator, in company witli the mission- 

 aries who then settled at these islands. At Strong's Island 

 (Ualan) in lat 5^ 12; K, Ion. 163^ E., they were informed by 

 King George, the principal chief, that some years previous, the 

 island had been visited by a hurricane which wholly destroyed 

 the bread fruit trees and caused a famine which nearly depopu- 

 lated the island. He described it as blowing first from one quar- 

 ter oj the heavens, and then from another. At Ascension Island, 

 (Bonabe) which is about three hundred miles distant, in a west- 

 northwest direction, a similar account was received. 



Cyclone of the Aiisterlitz^ Nov. 1851. — The new clipper Witch- 

 craft arrived at Hong Kong on the 3d of December, from Cali- 

 fornia, with loss of main-mast-head and all the topmasts. She 

 experienced a typhoon on the 13-14th of Nov., in lat. 22"^ 40' 

 K, Ion. 150^ E. 



About the same period, in lat. 19° 48' K, Ion. 159° E., the 

 American ship Auslerlitz was totally dismasted. The chain 

 plates were torn from her sides, and her hull otherwise much 

 mjnred, and the vessel was soon afterwards abandoned. 



It cannot be doubted that the Austerlitz and Witchcraft fell, 

 successively, into the heart of this cyclone. We have thus two 

 points established in its track, which are distant from each other 

 about five hundred and thirty nautical miles- These positions 

 show its course to have been N. 71° W- ; or W. N. W., nearly- 

 • The position of the Austerlitz is more than two thousand five 

 hundred miles from Hong Kong ; and is somewhat nearer to 

 the Sandwich Islands. 



Kingsmill Islands and Oilhert Archipelago, —Hhese islands, sit- 

 uated on and near the equator, near Ion. 175° E., were visited 

 by a ship of the U, S. exploring expedition under Capt. Wilkes. 

 Variable winds from the northward and westward prevail, from 

 October to April; and they have violent gales from the south- 

 west According to liirby, who was taken off the islands, these 

 storms are typhoon-like; and last three or four days. The west- 

 erly sides of the islands receive most damage j and both land 

 and trees are swept away. 



